Prater wants his own shot at NFL field goal record

Broncos kicker Matt Prater could only watch from the sideline as Sebastian Janikowski, the kicker for the Oakland Raiders, hit an NFL-record-tying 63-yard field goal.

Prater on Wednesday said he was happy for Janikowski and impressed with the effort. Now he wants his shot.

“I just told him congratulations, and I said I’ll be looking for that record soon,” Prater told reporters after Broncos practice.

Prater certainly has the leg to hit a field goal that long, but it takes the right in-game situation as well as a good kick to make it.

If a kicker misses a field goal, the opponent takes over at the line of scrimmage — a risky proposition for most teams concerned about field position. That’s why it made sense for the Raiders to let Janikowski try it on Monday in the final seconds of the first half. (And why it was an odd move for John Fox to let Prater try a 56-yarder earlier in the second quarter, as Mike Klis pointed out in his Broncos Mailbag. Prater missed, and the Raiders were able to turn the short field into a field goal.)

Prater, who attempted but missed a 69-yarder in the preseason, hopes his chance will come to hit his own 63-yarder — if not longer.

“We just haven’t had the opportunity, yet, and the games haven’t played out right for that situation. Hopefully this year. We’ve got 15 more games,” Prater said.

I don’t think you’d hit it dude. You have a big leg but you seem to be incredibly inconsistent at times. Last year it was kickoffs, sometimes you’d kick it out the back of the endzone, and sometimes it wouldn’t make it to the endzone but this year with the new kickoff rule you won’t have to worry about it. If you do get the chance I hope it’s with seconds left so we don’t have to worry about you missing it and turning the ball over.

“Jano” was also a first round draft pick, which I think is completely ridiculous. Elam was drafted in what round? And kicked how long a field goal? Oh right. Prater, if given the opportunity, will break the field goal distance record.

Bringing Tebow into a blog post like this really proves the semi-psychotic bias some people have against him. I’d guess Wingnut is another one of the self-proclaimed experts who can’t throw a tight spiral over 10 yards personally but rips on Tebow’s throwing mechanics based on something Michael Silver wrote or John Clayton said on espn. Lame. I don’t care if he ever starts in Denver or not, but find the obsessive hatred of Tebow even stranger than the way others adore him.

I’d guess Wingnut is another one of the self-proclaimed experts who can’t throw a tight spiral over 10 yards personally but rips on Tebow’s throwing mechanics based on something Michael Silver wrote or John Clayton said on espn. _____________________________________________

This is why no one is allowed to criticize NFL players besides ex-NFL players, right?

Didn’t say that. Sometimes the former players turned analysts ruin the fan’s eperience with their “expertise” in my opinion (see Trent Dilfer). Criticize them all as much as you like – they’re paid millions to play a game. I do find the personal attacks on players (including Tebow, Orton and Quinn) over the top, however. I probably misinterpreted Wingnug’s original post.

I just have to weigh in here and agree with you on the Dilfer thing the other night. That dude sounded as though Al Davis personally paid huge scratch to jump on the Raider bandwagon like he did. That was downright disgusting to listen to him all night talking about how good the Raiders were this year, (after week one of course) and how the Broncos were not performing well in area of the game. He ripped on them every chance he got, to the point where I had to mute the remote control so I didn’t have to hear him rant and rave about the Raiders.

The funny thing is, I never liked Dilfer anyway as QB and now that he’s an one-sided analyst now, I can’t stand him even more. Hope I’m done with him this season because if I have to endure one more game with his nonsense, I’ll be jamming to classic rock during the Broncos games.

Good luck but I would be more worried about making wise off the field decisions and doing my job regardless of the situation before setting a record. That chance and the result will take care of itself. Good luck and Go Bronco’s.

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.